Nordic Business Forum

In this keynote presented at Nordic Business Forum 2026, professor Michael Beckely explains:- How to challenge the outdated growth assumptions, especially about China, that might be hiding massive risks in your current strategy.- How to build a winning strategy when you’re no longer competing with companies, but with the subsidized power of nations.- How to design a resilient, “shock-proof” supply chain and market strategy for a world that is breaking into geopolitical blocs.

In this Main Stage keynote, the former CEO of Unilever Paul Polman explains how to:- Build the right partnerships across your ecosystem — from suppliers and peers to competitors and communities — to unlock the kind of collective impact no company can achieve alone, and which sits at the heart of becoming truly Net Positive.- Build the radical trust and transparency required to lead transformative change across your entire value chain.- Turn humanity’s greatest challenges into your company’s biggest opportunities and most profitable ventures.- Find the personal courage to lead with purpose, making the tough, values-driven calls that build unbreakable trust with your team.

Former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, Patty McCord, shared how to build high-performing teams that deliver results at the Nordic Business Forum 2026. More specifically, she focused on:- How to implement ‘radical honesty’ as the foundation for a high-performance culture where trust isn’t just a poster on the wall, but a daily practice.- How to dismantle the traditional HR systems that kill motivation and replace them with a culture of freedom and responsibility that attracts and retains true A-players.- How to build a ‘team, not a family,’ where every member is a high-performer, enabling the level of trust and collaboration required to achieve extraordinary results.

From the crucial difference between performance and productivity to the spillover effect between your personal and professional life, this episode unpacks the deeper mechanics of human efficiency. Expect sharp insights on the reality of wearable tech and a step-by-step blueprint to optimize your energy from your morning arrival to your evening wind-down. Plus: how to conquer the post-lunch slump, ways to measure mental well-being, and the single biggest hidden habit that is quietly killing your daily performance.00:00 – Intro: What We’ve Gotten Wrong About Performance01:15 – Why More Optimization Often Makes Things Worse03:59 – James Hewitt’s 3C Model: Capacity, Control, Coordination06:10 – Why Doing Less Is a Performance Strategy07:37 – Wearables, Tracking, and the Data Obsession Trap11:03 – Sleep, Stress, and Leadership Performance13:42 – What Formula 1 Teams Teach Us About Performing Under Pressure17:47 – Managing Mistakes Without Losing Control19:05 – The Science of High-Performing Teams21:11 – Why Most Teams Fail to Coordinate Properly23:13 – Plan, Brief, Execute, Debrief: System for Teams26:30 – The Importance of Psychological Safety and Failure29:22 – High-Performance Teams Succeed in Organized Hybrid Settings34:23 – Cognitive Load of Online Meetings37:30 – Boundary Management Between Work and Non-Work Time39:01 – Building Better Attention Habits41:14 – The 3C Model Applied to Personal Life43:43 – Attention Is Our Most Valuable Resource45:00 – Attention Is an Act of Love45:33 – Why Self-Compassion Improves Performance

In a world where silence is no longer safe, today’s CEOs face a new reality: take a stand or risk losing relevance. But what does it really mean to lead in an age of polarization?Host Heli sits down with Annika Arras (CEO, Miltton New Nordics) and Thomas Kolster (marketing advisor & author) to unpack the rise of corporate activism.From the tension between profit and purpose to the risks of “performative” values, this episode explores why neutrality is fading and what replaces it.Expect sharp insights on leadership, trust, stakeholder pressure, and the messy intersection of business and politics. Plus: real-world examples, hard truths about money and morality, and a practical playbook for navigating activism without breaking your company.00:00 – Intro: The End of the Neutral CEO03:00 – What Corporate Activism Really Means Today04:10 – From Milton Friedman to Modern CEOs: What Changed?05:58 – The “Hero Trap”: When Activism Becomes Self-Serving07:48 – US vs. Nordics: Why Context Matters in Taking a Stand10:39 – Should CEOs Follow Values or Customers?13:00 – The Three Drivers of Activism: Material, Societal, Existential18:06 – “Everything Is Politics”: Why CEOs Are Already Political25:22 – It’s Sustainable to Be Inclusive28:02 – Leaders Need to Create the Space for Difficult Discussions29:45 – Challenger Brands vs. Corporates: Who Can Take Stronger Stands?32:37 – When Activism Works: Examples from Finlayson and Others35:15 – Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking in Leadership37:14 – Why CEOs Must Stay Curious and Close to Society39:25 – What Kind of Money Do You Want to Make?44:14 – Practical Guidelines: Why, What, How, and When to Act58:55 – The One Thing Leaders Should Remember01:02:28 – Outro: It’s Okay to Disagree

AI can boost your thinking but it can also replace it completely. In this episode, we explore how to use AI in a way that strengthens your brain instead of weakening it. Host Olivia Ojala is joined by neuroscientist Mona Moisala and Pactum AI co-founder Kaspar Korjus to discuss what research says about AI’s impact on cognition, memory, and decision-making. When does AI enhance learning, and when does it lead to shallow thinking?You’ll hear practical insights for professionals and leaders: how to use AI as a co-thinker, what tasks to delegate, how to avoid “AI slop,” and why “think first, prompt second” might be the most important rule of all. A must-listen for anyone navigating AI at work and wanting to stay sharp while doing it.00:00 – Intro: Is AI Enhancing or Rotting Your Brain?02:21 – The Neuroscience of AI: Cognitive Offloading vs. Atrophy04:52 – Think First, Prompt Second: The Golden Rule for Brain Health06:55 – AI Agents as "Graduate Students": How to Train Your Tools12:29 – The Fears and Misconceptions around AI17:34 or 18:46 – Integrating AI at the Workplace: Useful Strategies for Companies and Leaders20:47 – The Adoption Inequality Gap: Winners and Losers of AI26:57 – The Fine Line between Outsourcing Tasks for Productivity and Killing Expertise33:50 – Beware of "AI Slop": Spotting Hallucinations and Fake Citations36:36 – How AI Really Works: Next-Character Prediction vs. Human Logic41:26 – Using AI as a Co-Thinker: The Active Way of Using AI at Work46:17 –  Building Your Brain Muscle Back47:54 – The 3x Productivity Trap: Why AI Makes Us More Stressed49:13 – Leading with Empathy: Mental Health in the AI Era53:48 – Bridging the Generation Gap: How AI Impacts us Across Generations56:03 – Outro: How to Stay Human in an Automated World

In this session, you will learn: How does psychological safety lead to high performance? How does your leadership style affect your team? Why are bad ideas also an essential ingredient of success?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused, above all dreadful loss, grief, anxiety, and fear. It has also drastically changed the geopolitical landscape we operate in as businesses. So, how can you navigate your business strategy now? We’ll try to find that out at our next live webinar as we sit down with the economist and author, Kjell A Nordström. In this session, you will learn: What are the emerging risks you need to be aware of? How can you navigate the current geopolitical landscape? How can you work strategically in a fast-changing environment? How can boards play a vital role in building a culture for cyber security?

In the last two years, everything changed. People changed. Technology changed. The office changed. Priorities changed. And the way we work changed. The future of work is now. Are you prepared for opportunity, choice, and growth in the accelerated future of work? Terence Mauri is on a mission to help leaders harness the upside of disruption, leadership, and growth in the accelerated future of work. He holds Entrepreneur Mentor roles at MIT and IE Business School and is the founder of the management think tank Hack Future Lab. His latest book The 3D Leader: Take your leadership to the next dimension has been described as a ‘game changer’ by Forbes.

Nilofer Merchant is often referred to as the Jane Bond of Innovation. In this keynote, she talks about change, success, and the importance of connections.